Missing Persons, Nameless, and The Calm Before the Storm – Witcher 3 Quest

This guide is a walkthrough of a main quest in the Witcher 3 for the area of Skellige Isles. The guide is composed of a map, map legend, and walkthrough to show readers exactly where to go and what to do to complete the quest.

Map Legend

1 – Meeting Place
2 – Lofoten
3 – Front Gate
4 – Tree
5 – Locked Door
6 – Sluice Gate Controls
7 – Well / Well Exit
8 – Drowned Dead Rock
9 – Larvik

Walkthrough

Missing Persons

To start off in the quest “Missing Persons,” you’ll need to meet Yennefer on Hindarsfjall in The Skellige Isles Northeast (#1). She’ll immediately lead you to the town of Lofoten (#2), where you’ll learn that the Wild Hunt recently attacked the village, and that Ciri was seen talking to the man Craven — so named because he fled from the village when the Wild Hunt arrived. The survivors of Lofoten will then tell you that Craven went to Freya’s Garden to destroy the beast Morkvarg and make amends for his cowardice.

Note: If you haven’t yet received the quest In Wolf’s Clothing, then the conversation in Lofoten will trigger it. You can complete In Wolf’s Clothing while you’re in Freya’s Garden.

Nameless

When you reach Freya’s Garden (#3), you’ll complete the quest “Missing Persons” and trigger the quest “Nameless.” The gate to the garden will be locked. To get inside, you’ll need to climb the stairs next to the gate, which will take you up to the garden’s walls and lead you right to the tree where Craven made a blood offering (#4). Yennefer will agree to wait at the tree while you continue your search.

To find Craven, you’ll need to turn on your witcher senses and follow his footprints. The footprints will circle around the garden and take you to a locked door (#5). You won’t be able to open this door, so you’ll have to find a way to get to the other side.

To that end, you should head to the eastern side of the garden, where you’ll find a mechanism with two levers (#6). These levers will allow you to control three sluice gates. The left lever will open the current gate. The right lever will close the current gate (if it’s open) and shift control to the next gate, as shown by the wooden pegs in between the levers. You’ll need to open the middle sluice gate, so you should pull the right lever until the middle peg comes up, and then pull the left lever.

Past the middle sluice gate, you’ll need to climb a stone wall and then make your way to the other side of the locked door (#5). When you turn on your witcher senses there, you’ll spot Craven’s footprints heading right for the garden’s well (#7). You’ll have to jump in to follow him. Then inside the well, you’ll discover Craven’s body. When you let Yennefer know about this, she’ll ask you to bring the body up to her. You’ll do this automatically, and you’ll gain a Spikeroog Longsword and 200 xp for your troubles.

Yennefer will then raise Craven from the dead and ask him what he knows about Ciri. Craven — aka Skjall — won’t want to say anything, but eventually he’ll talk. He’ll inform you that Ciri showed up in Lofoten with a masked companion, that she was weak and near-frozen, and that her companion wanted her to go to Drowned Dead Rock. This conversation will complete the quest “Nameless,” trigger the quest “The Calm Before the Storm,” and put you in control of Ciri in a flashback sequence.

The Calm Before the Storm

As Ciri, you should follow Skjall’s sister Astrid to the sauna. Once there, you’ll need to undress (by “using” the pile of towels next to the mirror) and then enter the main sauna room, where you’ll find Astrid and her mother. After talking to them for a bit, you should head into the garden area behind the sauna and do two things: jump into the water and drink some of Freya’s Firewater. These two actions will heal you completely and allow you to regenerate during the remainder of the quest. Then you should get dressed (by returning to the mirror and using the towels again) and head over to the stables.

At the stables, you’ll have a few moments to fool around with Skjall if you want, but then the Wild Hunt will show up, and you’ll have to fight a few level 14 Wild Hunt Warriors and level 12 Hounds of the Wild Hunt. Once you’ve done enough killing, you’ll be directed back to the stables, where you and Skjall will mount a pair of horses and ride for Drowned Dead Rock. Along the way, you’ll have to dodge more Hounds of the Wild Hunt. If they manage to knock you off your horse, then you’ll have to load your game, so use up your horse’s stamina and complete the trip as quickly as possible.

When you reach Drowned Dead Rock (#8), you’ll try to convince your masked companion to help out Lofoten against the Wild Hunt, but he’ll knock you unconscious, dump you into his boat, and sail away. Skjall will try to come to your aid, but he’ll get wounded by the Wild Hunt and pass out. When Skjall comes to, he’ll see a strange, misshapen creature on the beach, apparently just arrived on a boat like the one you left on.

At the end of Skjall’s story, you’ll regain control of Geralt, and you’ll see that Yennefer’s spell sucked the life out of Freya’s Garden. Some of Freya’s priestesses from Lofoten will then show up, and they’ll be so upset about Yennefer’s actions that they’ll curse her — not that Yennefer will much care. This encounter will complete “The Calm Before the Storm” and earn you 200 xp.

You’ll then trigger two quests. You’ll always receive The Last Wish (to meet Yennefer in Larvik, #9), but you’ll also receive one other quest — either Ugly Baby (to return to Velen and ask about the creature, provided that you’ve already seen him there) or A Mysterious Passenger (to visit Larvik and find out where the creature ended up). But note: the interface might indicate that you’ve triggered all three quests even though you’ll only actually receive two of them.